The odds of Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential elections surged dramatically Tuesday on a cryptocurrency-based prediction market.
What Happened: Polymarket, which calls itself the world's largest prediction market, saw the likelihood of Harris becoming the presidential candidate surge from 8% to 27% in the last 24 hours.
While President Biden remains the top pick for bettors on the platform, with 58% odds in his favor, the substantial increase in Harris’ chances reflected a marked shift in sentiment.
For the curious, Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market that allows users to bet on major global events using cryptocurrencies. Users can buy or sell outcome shares, which can be redeemed for $1 if the outcome is correct, and become worthless if it's incorrect.
Why It Matters: The growing odds in favor of Kamala Harris were likely due to Biden's lackluster performance in last week's presidential debate against Republican challenger Donald Trump. Critics, including a fellow Democrat from the House of Representatives, called for him to withdraw from the presidential race.
On Polymarket, the odds of Biden dropping out of the presidential race was 56% at the time of writing. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of the traders on the platform believed Trump would win the race to the White House.
Price Action:This shifting dynamics impacted PolitiFi cryptocurrency tokens linked to these leaders. Kamala Horris (CRYPTO: KAMA), a coin parodying Harris, jumped 126% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko, while Jeo Boden (CRYPTO: BODEN) slumped 27%.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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